Who's Hatching Ducks? Hatch With Us!! *Page 3*

[DuckyBoys]

I have three tester calls that have made it to the end! Out of six, not bad I guess. We will call this success if I can get one to hatch! Going into the hatcher today, one is internally pipped already and day 26 isn't until tomorrow.

Pics from this weeks hatchings:
Saxony ducks, blue runner duck (not silver like I thought), blue goose (dark blue beak), pilgrim goose, and lavender goose (very light beak and down).

 

[Wifezilla]

That second picture is cracking me up!!!

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

heya all - have been So busy lately, no time to post, but I check in here and I am loving the pictures of babies!!!!

My sister is leaving the Great White North today to drive down here (all by herself,

she's nervous - over 500 miles), anyway, I've been trying to finish chicken runs, duck pens and clean house, too.

The white call duck eggs I got from Ducky boys go into the hatcher soon - I SO hope that someof those hatch!!! out of the 12 sent I think I have 8 of them developing just fine (keep your fingers crossed for me). One got dented, one I dented myself, trying to unwrap it

, and the rest were fine, but two looked like the aircell was burst after a week in the bator, so I tossed those. The others all look fantastic, though, so I am hoping for at least half of them to come out of the shells healthy and happy little duckies.

I have three call duck eggs (of my own) in the hatcher, now, due umm.... today

(been too busy to even sit and stare at the hatcher) I have to put chicken eggs into the hatcher today, too.

I'm trying ther "egg carton" hatching method, but I am not using egg cartons - I have those plastic "egg carton-like" trays they put into the big incubators. They have less surface area touching the egg (and restricting air flow) so I'm hoping they'll do ok. I'm glad I have some of my own eggs hatching in them before I try the whites.

I want white call ducks so bad!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, and here's a Q --- Squishy, the first call duck baby I hatched, is outside (in a fenced run next to the duck pen) and he is still only half the size of his Daddy (his Mama was similar sized to Daddy) and he is at least a month old (will have to check dates) - how long before they reach full sized? Cause he is still pretty small (but maybe Mama and Daddy were a little big for their type?)

Squishy has all but the tips of his wing feathers in - just a tiny bit of fluff here and there poking out of feathers. Does it take longer for them to reach mature size than a larger duck? I ask, because my Swedish ducks (it seemed) were full sized by a month old.

Then again, all of the baby calls I hatched were smaller than I expected - and the baby goose (american buff) I hatched is smaller by half than the two pilgrim babies I got to keep her company.

curious...

meri

 

[ShadyGlade]

I've never raised the baby calls but my Buff babies were smaller & slower growing then my Pilgrims or my Sebastapols.

ETA: spelling change

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:
Thanks

she is healthy acting and looking, just smaller.

I thought Buffs were about the same size (as adults) as Pilgrims. Maybe they just get there slower. Or maybe I just read so much on so many different breeds I'm mixed up

meri

 

[shelleyd2008]

The others I had here were all about the same size, if anything the pilgrims were smaller than the buffs!

I don't know about calls, but my pekin, rouen, and cayuga babies weren't full size until they were about 2 months old. I think you probably just think the swedes were full sized, but I guarantee if you had adults at the same time you would have noticed a difference. At a month, they (mine) were probably about half as big as the adults, and at 2 months they were almost the same size. The pekins anyway. The rouens and cayuga took another month to be about the same size, so at 3 months they were about full sized.

I have a week left on my blue goose eggs!!

I can't see anything in them, so let's hope I haven't killed them both!!

The buff eggs I have aren't doing anything, one of them looks like it has a quitter, but the other 3 never even started.

But 3 of the 4 had 'moving' air cells when they got here, thanks to the lovely P.O. The funny thing is that the one with a quitter is one that had a moving air cell, and the one that looks fine didn't even start developing. Oh well, I still have them in the bator, hoping I'm wrong, but I don't think so. They have been in there for 2 weeks, so I should be seeing something by now!

So anyway, my duck/goose hatching will be kicking into full steam in another week or so! I have about 20 eggs from my ducks in the bator, due the 4th, the 2 blue goose eggs due the 6th, and muscovies due the 11th and 14th. The buffs are due the 15th, but like I said, they don't look very promising.

I also have some ameraucanas due the 6th, and some of my chickens eggs (cochins, mille fleurs, and silkies) that I just set. After the majority hatches, then it's on to the guineas!! I am supposed to be getting some turkey eggs in the next week or so as well, but those will be in my friends bator. After these eggs that I have set now hatch, I'll probably be quitting. I need to get things organized, rather than adding more to the mix right now! Except for the guineas, of course

But I only get 2 eggs a day from them, so there won't be too many.

DuckyBoys, those babies are so cute!! I just love baby geese!!

 

[dangerboy]

Cool, now I can see that all 12 ducklings are alive inside the eggs.

 

[ke_ben]

Just saw the thread, today my 10 Buff Orp ducks are hatching, 1 out and several pipped/zipping.

 

[cici_p]

I have two pipped right now! They are several days ahead of schedule. . .!!!!

 

[ShadyGlade]

I have two Buff goslings out of the shell & another pipped. Also have a Pilgrim, another Buff and a Sebbie pipped. I will not sleep tonight I bet.